


What happened after the elevator scene

by wordsarehard



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fix-It, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 15:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14673663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsarehard/pseuds/wordsarehard
Summary: So, I refuse to let the writers make Kara and Lean all OOC - this is my headcanon as to what happened after.They are soft and in love and that is that.My fix it fic for 3x18*Characters not mine - but I would treat them a whole lot better if they were!





	What happened after the elevator scene

Kara winced at the pain in her chest.

Yes. Pain.

She ached.

Lena's words. The hurt on her face. Killed Kara.

She screwed up, she knew that…now.

Well, if she were being honest, she had known for some time.

All the justifications in the world weren't going to make it better. This thing…whatever it was, needed to be faced, head on. No matter how much she wanted to avoid it, to hide away, she knew until she talked to her best friend this pain would linger, fester, grow until it was out of control.

Entering Alex's apartment, she plastered a smile on her face. One her sister saw through in half a second.

In the kitchen, far enough away from Lena and Ruby, Alex spoke. "What's wrong? Something happen?"

_Yes. I blew it with Lena. She hates me. I have to tell her. I can't keep hurting her like this. I'm terrified to tell her who I am. What if she hates me even more?_

Of course, Kara didn’t share any of this. Just glanced at Lena. "I need to tell her."

Alex raised a brow. "You sure? With everything going on…and what happened at the DEO."

Kara nodded. "Yeah, the longer I wait the worse it'll be."

 _It might already be too late_ , she thought.

"I know today was rough, are you sure you want to do it now? Emotions are running high."

"She's hurting and so am I. I have to resolve this. I have to know we're okay…or not. She said she doesn't trust Supergirl, Alex."

Alex put an arm across Kara's shoulders. "Do what you need. I'm here no matter what."

They spent the next two hours eating ice cream and talking about random things. Distraction was the key. Not just for a terrified Ruby, or a stressed and upset Lena, but also for a scared and unsure Kara.

"I should get going. I have lots of work to do," Lena said.

Kara jumped to her feet, grabbing Lena's coat. "I'll go with you."

Lena waved her off. "No need, stay with your sister."

"Nah, I've barely seen you."

Looking away, Lena shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The walk from the door to the elevator was awkward, filled with a growing tension Kara didn't know how to interpret.

The ding of the doors made her cringe, her senses hyper-focused and making it too loud. She adjusted her glasses to hide the wince.

"Ruby'll be okay. She's strong like her mom," Kara said.

"Hmm, she is."

"You think you'll be able to help her?" Kara fidgeted with the strap of her bag, feeling this was the calm before the storm.

"I hope so. Like I said, I'm working with Supergirl because I have to not because I trust her. Hopefully, that means saving my friend."

Kara swallowed. "She's my friend, too."

Lena didn't answer.

Air. There wasn’t enough of it. The walls closed in and she needed to…

The doors opened and Kara stepped into the lobby, the small space suffocating her…or maybe it was the impending confession getting heavier and heavier on her tongue.

"Everything okay?" Lena's expression was off…not the one of concern that Kara had become accustomed to.

Kara shook her head. "Not really."

Lena froze, head tilting to the side minutely. "What's wrong?"

"I want…I need to talk to you." Kara bit her lip, tearing her eyes away from Lena's gaze.

Crossing her arms, Lena spoke. "Go ahead, say what you need to."

Anger. Fear. A trace of trepidation was easy to identify. But Kara knew Lena well. There was hurt, too. Hurt Kara had caused.

"I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

Kara's thoughts tumbled around her head. Everything was mixed up and confusing. This whole situation had her on edge…since Christmas. Since Reign had put her in a coma. She hadn't been herself. And that needed to change.

Right now.

"A lot. Can we talk?"

A perfect brow arched. "Isn't that what we're doing?"

"Please? Can we go somewhere?"

Lena seemed to be having an internal debate with herself.  "Fine, where would you like to go?"

"Somewhere private."

Lena walked out to the street, pointing to her car. "Get in. I know a place."

Kara sat in the passenger seat, trying to ignore the silence that hung between them. While Lena maneuvered the car, Kara organized her thoughts. Wanted to make sure she said the right thing. That emotions and anger and frustration with other things didn’t affect this thing. Didn’t ruin her friendship with Lena.

A friendship that meant a lot to her. More than she wanted to admit. And those feelings were part of the reason she had been so hard on Lena. Staring out the window she laughed at herself.

"We're here," Lena said, softly.

 _Here_ was an empty lot. Kara did a quick scan and didn’t pick up any heartbeats within a few miles.

"I'm sorry," Kara began, wanting to kick herself.

"So you've said, but not why." Lena stared straight ahead, hands on the top of the steering wheel.

This was it. Kara sucked in a breath and did one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

"Do you trust me?"

Lena turned to her, forehead pinched. "What? Why would you ask that?"

Kara pushed on. "I just need to know if you trust me. Kara Danvers."

"Kara…I…" Lena stopped, looking away. "I want us to be honest with each other now."

"Me too. I suspected you knew. There were a few screw-ups on my part and then when you told Alex people's secrets were theirs to share." Her heart hammered in her chest, breathing was difficult. "I know I messed up. I know I said wrong…terrible things. I know I hurt you and I am…I am so sorry. The last thing I ever wanted to do was have _that_ get between us."

"I know." Lena blew out a breath. "Why do you think I didn’t call you for over a month? Telling you what was going on with Sam was the same as telling Supergirl and therefore the DEO. My goal was to protect Sam." Lena laughed, but it held no humor. "Didn’t you think it was odd we stopped talking? No more brunch dates? All we did was text and you were totally fine with that."

"I wasn’t fine with it, but you were with James. I didn’t want to interfere." Kara pursed her lips.

"Is that all it was?"

Kara took off her glasses, not wanting to be disguised any longer. "It doesn't matter now."

Lena turned, expression guarded but not hostile. "Maybe it does?"

Shaking her head sadly, Kara spoke, "No. I don't think so…how long have you known?"

Disappointment flashed across Lena's face before her expression went back to neutral. "A while. A long while. I do believe that people have a right to their secrets. I wasn’t mad at you until you said…until you told me that wasn't something someone in my family should ask you." A tear formed and Kara reached out for it, an automatic instinct, but Lena flinched. Kara's hand fell, useless. "I didn't know if it was because of my name until that moment. I wanted to think it was something else. Had convinced myself if I was patient enough, good enough, that you would trust me." Her voice trailed off, her gaze focused on something outside.

"It was never your name Lena. I swear. It…I…" Kara blew out a breath, needing to be totally honest, for once and floundering. "I was selfish. I loved having a place to just be me. Just Kara Danvers. I liked having you to myself. And then things changed. I can't pinpoint when, I just know I saw you as something more. And I panicked. I –"

Lena positioned herself so she faced Kara. "What do you mean something more?"

Kara shook her head. "It doesn't matter what, just know it was good. Then, after Reign nearly killed me I was terrified if she found out who I was that she'd go after the people I loved. I couldn’t sleep. I patrolled every night. Always checking on you. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened to you because of me."

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose. "I appreciate this confession, but the only reason you're telling me is because I called you out in the elevator. You had James spy on me. My boyfriend, Kara. God, that's on par with my mother."

Kara flinched at the words. "I did ask James to do that. I shouldn’t have. It was stupid. I should have trusted you and all I can say is that the thought of people having kryptonite terrifies me. The agony I feel around it. I would have had the same kneejerk emotional reaction if Alex told me she had it."

Lena looked down. "No, I can't put this all on you. I gambled and lost. I thought I could cure Sam and it blew up in my face. I should have been honest about it being mine, about making it. I just knew that would destroy whatever goodwill I had left with you and the DEO. A Luthor making kryptonite…it was stupid to hide."

Kara reached out, stopping herself just short of touching Lena. "You were helping Sam. There's nothing stupid about that. What you did for her? How you were able to contain Reign? Something the DEO couldn't do, something the Legion couldn't do…do you know how amazing that is? Your ability to do the impossible, to sacrifice and risk everything when it comes to helping people is one of the things I love about you."

Lena's face twitched at that and Kara wanted to smack herself for making it too personal. For sharing too much.

"I know you think I have a god complex, but the truth is I know someone needs to have it…kryptonite. I can go bad. Max Lord taught me that. There are other Kryptonians out there. I get it, I do. But that formula in the wrong hands…it's scary. It came out all wrong at the DEO. What if I was exposed to it while fighting Reign? I'm not scared of dying. I'm scared of not being there for the people who need me. What if someone messed up and made red again? I just…I like being here to keep people safe. My friends. My family. And I know there are people out there that would love to stop me. That would do anything to know how to make kryptonite and kill me with it." Kara rubbed her eyes, so tried. "I know it sounds arrogant, but I'd like to think I make a difference. That I've earned some goodwill with you."

"You have. You've saved countless lives. Almost died at the hands of Reign." Lena swallowed then, eyes watery. "I watched you fall that night. The sound you made when you hit the ground. When the dust cleared and you were just lying there. Unmoving. I thought you were dead. I knew then I had to do something."

Kara, full of nervous energy, fidgeted with the middle console. "That's when you started to work on it."

Lena nodded. "I was trying to help you."

Kara opened her mouth but Lena's phone rang. James's number popping up on the screen. Kara rubbed the spot above her heart, making a face.

Lena picked up her phone, turning it off.

"I should let you go. I'm sure you want to go meet…James." The words withered on her tongue.

"I meant it when I said I missed you. I miss my friend, Kara." Lena reached out then, taking Kara's hand. "I don't know where we go from here. I feel like there's something you're still not telling me, and I don't know if that's from not trusting you or something else."

The hand wrapped around Kara's was warm, soft, and caused a small measure of calm to form. "Lena," she whispered, not ready for this confession. "I swear there's nothing you need to know that I'm not telling you."

The warmth pulled away from Kara and with it the small measure of peace that had begun to bloom.

"Okay. What about things you think I don't need to know?"

Kara bit her lip, hard. She stared at her hands, waiting for an answer she could give Lena to appear. Mustering up her strength, she nodded to herself.

"Do you really not know?"

Lena smiled, it was faint, but there. "Know what?"

"How much I care about you. How much I love you."

Lena leaned back, a startled expression on her face. "But you never…you told me I had chemistry with James…why?"

Kara laughed at that. "For months I pined for you. I didn’t know what to say…how to bring it up and then I noticed you and James. I thought if you were with someone you liked that it would be easier to move on. To forget. It wasn’t until recently that I realized I was holding in a lot of anger about Mon el," Kara sighed. "I just really want to work on getting our friendship back. This thing between us is good. I know it'll take time. I know we need to work on the trust thing. We can work through this. Please." Kara met Lena's eyes then.

Lena's eyes were watery. "We can. We'll get through all of it. We were both wrong and both right, in our own way…on top of emotions raising the tension of everything. But what we have…is strong. Worth fighting for." She leaned forward then and Kara did as well, drawn in by a power not even she could resist.

Their lips were inches apart. "James." Kara pulled back.

"We broke up."

Kara's brow crinkled. "You didn’t say anything."

Lena raised a brow. "There didn’t seem a right time to bring it up."

Sitting back, Kara tried to catch up. Everything was happening too fast. "What happened?"

"My heart wasn't in it. My thoughts were always with Sam. I would go weeks without seeing him, days without talking. I realized…a bit late, that it wasn't going to work out. I thought about you more than I did him."

Kara shoved her glasses in her bag. "But this morning you guys were…"

Lena cleared her throat. "Yeah. That was me trying to move on. Trying to forget."

The memory of them…Kara forced the image out of her head. "I guess we have a few more things to talk about."

They reached out at the same time, fingers grasping for one another.

"Yeah," Lena said.

Kara looked up, hopeful for the first time in months. "But it'll be okay?"

Lena nodded. "It will."


End file.
